Electric vehicles and hybrid automobiles incorporate a three-phase AC motor as a power source, and a battery as a source of electrical energy, and an inverter that converts DC power of the battery into three-phase AC power. The three-phase AC motor is connected via the inverter to the battery. The three-phase AC motor is electrically connected via an electrical wire to the inverter. The inverter is electrically connected to the battery via an electrical wire.
The electrical wire that feeds the three-phase alternate current to the three-phase AC motor is connected via a connector to the inverter, the connector being adapted to be attached to a connector-mounting portion of the inverter. A connector 101 of this type, as shown in FIG. 5, is known, in which an electrical wire 149 along with a terminal fitting 150 provided at an end thereof is received and retained in a shield shell 104, the shield shell 104 being secured by means of a bolt 151 to a connector-mounting portion 102 of an inverter (for example, see the patent literature PTL 1).
The connector 101 as described in the PTL 1 comprises (a) a shield shell 104 including (i) a terminal fitting accommodating portion 108 in which the terminal fitting 150 is received and (ii) an electrical wire accommodating portion 107 in which the electrical wire 149 is received, (b) a bolt 152 that electrically connects a not-shown electrode provided in the connector-mounting portion 102 to the terminal fitting 150 for retention thereof, and (c) a cover member 129 closing the terminal fitting accommodating portion 108, and (d) the bolt 151 adapted to secure the cover member 129 and the shield shell 104 to the connector-mounting portion 102. Also, the cover member 129 includes a packing 133. The packing 133 takes a mushroom-like shape and includes a locking projection adapted to be brought into locking engagement with a recessed portion provided on an outer circumferential surface of the cover member 129.